Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative is a book on coming up with creative ideas written by Austin Kleon and published in 2012 from Workman Publishing. The book, has since then become a New York Times Bestseller.
When Mr. Kleon was asked to address college students at Broome Community College in upstate New York in 2011, he shaped his speech around a simple list of ten things he wished someone had told him when he was starting out at their age.
Kleon describes ten basic principles to boost your creativity. He lists them on the back cover of the book so that they're easily referenced. The book is small, full of illustrations and several poems in the style of his newspaper cutouts by Kleon.
Kleon reminds throughout his book that “nothing is original… all creative work builds on what came before.” This sentiment is also a foundation for effective ELA teaching: From our past experiences as readers and writers, we can design better learning conditions for our students.
